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Sunday, August 28, 2005

IMBB#18: Summer's Flying, Let's get Frying! Spring Rolls

Let's start with the appropriate apology for the slightly fuzzy picture - but I just couldn't bear not entering this month's IMBB?, hosted by Linda from At Our Table, so I used an old picture. Eh, the picture can be old, as long as what it shows is good, no?

The theme is "Summer's Flying, Let's Get Frying!". I'd initially planned to make My Stepdad's Beignets - but SOMEONE decided school had to start tomorrow, so there was all of a sudden things I had to take care of, instead of enjoying myself in front of the deep fat fryer. But bite-sized, homemade spring rolls - who could say no? And I haven't really coaxed that recipe from him... yet... but I will, and then you shall know all about 'em!

I love me a nice springroll. Crispy, preferably made with some sort of pork, but I'd never be shy of a veggie one either. These was made with minced pork, fried with chili, garlic, onion, soy sauce, fish sauce and a bit of sugar to taste. Again, with the guideline, no recipe, but this is how I make them - a bit of this, a bit of that!

Let the meat cool off, then put a teaspoonful or two on the spring roll paper, a bit of julienned carrot, bell pepper - you could use white cabbage, or whatever you fancy - roll up, using lots of beaten egg to make the paper stick. Regarding the rolling business - there's usually an instruction on the packet, just follow that. I've tried re-working that instruction - ahem. Let's just say they know what they're doing, and the spitter-spatter of a roll that breaks - not funny.

I like making the rolls small, just two or three bites worth each, and so of course, the 1-2 teaspoonsful apply to such a size. You can make them as large as you like. For the smaller size I find that 1 kg. of meat makes 50 rolls. I can't claim these are traditional - but they're easy to do, except for a bit of fiddly roling! I'm actually a really bad "Asian Cuisine" student - hmm, maybe I should start doing something about that??

You can do all of these steps in advance, just making sure you space the rolled rolls a bit apart, or they might stick together. Just before you want to serve 'em, fry em up - deep fry, or just a good layer of oil (1 cm's worth) in the bottom of a trusty pan, then pan fry. Serve warm and crispy, with sweet chili sauce and soy sauce on the side. Mmmm.

The closest I got to IMBB this month was eating a really greasy giant spring roll from a vegetarian vendor - it was simply disgusting! These sound so much nicer, I should give them a go some time.

Size wise, these remind me of the great little ones I get from Vietnamese restaurants - they come with bundles of coriander and Vietnamese mint to wrap round each little bite. Mmmn, Vietnamese food ... how do I get so sidetracked???

Cathy - actually, these aren't so bad regarding the deep fat frying - I usually do it in a layer that just covers the bottom of the pan - sort of shallow frying, if you will. I too hate the idea of all that hot, hot oil, but I can deal with the smaller amount.

Nic - Oh no! I don't want to cut back! Didn't someone once say that as long as the oil is really hot, the item you're frying won't "drink" that much oil? Or am I just kidding myself here?

Ana - whoever said that big is better? I'll take a small spring roll over a big one any day - that way I can even take two!